CITY COUNCIL.

Wellington Independent, Volume XXVI, Issue 3375, 19 December 1871, Page 2

CITY COUNCIL.

Monday, Decembkb 18. A Bpeceial meeting of the Council was hold this day afc tho Chambers. Present : Tho Mayor (in the chair), Councillors Krull, Moss, Buckley, Mills, Ramie, and Miller. THE WHAM? COMMITTEE'S 11EPOET. Councillor KavLii said he had at tho former meeting moved, the adoption of the report, and he supposed ifc devolved upon him to make that motion at the present meeting. Councillor Ramie inquired whether they wero to discuss the clausos seriatim, or adopt the report and tho whole of tho conditions in ono motion. Tho Mayob : That; is for the Council to decide Councillor Ramie : Then I move that the conditions be discussed clause by clause Councillor Milleb seconded tho motion, which wa9 agreed to. Councillor Moss took tho preliminary objection that fche Council had no power to deal with tho question of erecting the sheds. Tho Mayob, to satisfy Councillor Moss on that point, read tho report presented to the Provincial Council. When that report was j discussed in tho Provincial Council, tho Pro- I vincial Secretary stated that tho negotiation with tho City Council would proceed on tho understanding that tho sheds should be erected, aud ifc was on that understanding that; Mr Ludlam supported the Government. Councillor Moss thought this matter entirely irrelevant. He merely wanted fco know whether the Council had power fco erect tho sheds. j The Mayob said he was making an answer to fchafc question, but it seemed to him that | Councillor Moss was attempting to burk tho matter. He had merely to repeat that in the Provincial Council Mr Bunny had givon a pledge on the part of the Government that the sheds should be erected, and it was understood that 61000 out of the £20,000 to be paid fco tho Provincial Government by the City Council should be expended in their erection. Councillor Moss : There is no stipulation to that effect in the terms of purchase. The Mayob said that, in accordance with ! the understanding to which he had alluded, when the £20,000 were paid over to the Provincial Government he requested the Superintendent to give him, on behalf of tho Corporation, tho £1000 as tho amount to bo devoted fco the erection of the sheds. The Superintendent at once referred to tho condij tions, and said, " Of course you are perfectly j aware that tho £1000 is to be expended in the erection of fche sheds," [The Mayor then read a letter from his Honor tho Superintendent boaring on tho subject.] Ho had acted to tho best of his ability in tho matter, and ho hoped ho had given to fche Council a fair | explanation of the matter. j Councillor Moss : Yes ; but ifc appears to I me from that explanation, and the letter just read, that the Council had no voice in fche matter. Thoy had no alternative but to go on with tho erection of the sheds. His Worship the Mayor had bound thorn by a kind of ! cross action by which they wero debarred from expressing any opinion on tho matter. 1 Councillor Milleb clearly understood that I thoy wero to have nothing to do with tho | sheds until they had completed fcho purchase of fche whole property, and then they were to do anything they Lked with it. Councillor Mills as clearly understood that the condition to orecfc fcho sheds was port of the purchase. Afc the last sitting day they wont so far as to connnifc themselves to the erection of the sheds by agreeing that fche work should bo done. He looked upon tho whole matter as this : thafc if they purohnsed fche wharf thoy purchased that; liability also, i and nofc only that, but thoy wore committed to ' a certain extent to accept ono of tho tenders Bent in for fcho erection of the sheds. Councillor Milleb : Nothing of fche kind. Wo always maintained a neutrality between the Provincial Government and ourselves. Councillor Buckley said ib appeared fco him that thoy wero fighting about straws. They had appointed a sub-committee fco investigate the matter, and had empowered them fco examine the plans and specifications, with instructions to report to tho Council, and fche only question the members of the Oounoil had to deal with after that was done was, whether they should accept the lowest tender for the erection'of tho sheds whioh was then before

them. It appeared to him that was the qiifslion which they had met to discn.«.«. Ho wis present at tho iniorview which took place boi ween his Honor fche Superintendent; and his Worship the Mayor, though not in any capacity connected with the Council, and he understood clearly that the £20,000 -was to be paid to fche Superintendent, £19,000 of which was for tho purchase of tho wharf, and the erection of the sheds was to be paid for out of fche other £1000. There was now no question before them os to the desirability or otherwise of erecting the sheds on the wharf. The Provincial Council thought ifc necessary to have sheds when fche property was theirs, and ho had no doubt tho publio felt the want of some buildings of the kind to protect their property. The question is : Aro we to have sheds to protect the property of the public or not ? That was a question with which he had as much to do as any other councillor, and he saw no reason to refuse to adopt fche ( arrangement for their erection. He thought, however, they should call for fresh j tenders. Having adopted tho plana and | specifications already prepared, tho. only question that" remained was whether they should accept the lowest tonder or call for \ fresh tenders ; and he would lepeafc the opinion j that they should call for fresh tenders. The . purchase of tho reclaimed land was made by i act of Parliament, and before the property can be vested in fche corporation tho £1,000 must be paid over, for till the whole of the money transactions were settled the matter could nofc bo said to be complete. Then came the question whether they should erect the sheds, and the only really substantial question before them was whether ifc was desirable to accept; any of the tenders already in. What sort of sheds should be erected was a matter on which fchey could nofc be perfectly satisfied, for some people recommended close, and others open sheds, but; all agreed that fchey wero necessary fco fche place. Tho gentlemen who formed the committee had recommended that tho plans at present in should be made use of, but had not said anything about the tenders. He noticed in the report that a pledge was given to the lowest tenderer, but he thought fchey should give no pledge of the kind to anybody. He would go so far with the authorities as to say, " We will adopt what has been done, but; we will nofc accept any tender whioh you may have thought fit; to adopt." He thought Councillor Moss was rather in error in saying that; fche Council had no right fco deal with the matter. Councillor Moss would like to ask whether they had the power, if they saw fit, to alter the position of any of the sheds proposed to be erected. Tho Mayor: Although we aro morally bound, legally wo can do anything we like in the matter. We aro pledged to do certain things. Councillor Moss : I, for one, am pledged to do nothing of fche sortCouncillor Mili.ee : How can we be pledged to what wo know nothing about. The Mayob: You aro pledged fco erect these four sheds. Councillor Moss : I have gone to great trouble to obtain certain information as to the erection of these sheds, and I have ascertained that there is great difference of opinion about them. Some pnople are of opinion that fchey should be open sheds, while others think fchey should be close. Therefore, I thought ifc was our duty to come here and advocate the opinions of the ratepayers outside; but according to what I now hear fche information I have got is useless. Councillor Ramie thought the matter would nofc require much discussion if they were to take tho clausos one by one. They should not be bound by the action of the Provincial Government;. Thoy had got the wharf into their possession, and they should be privileged to do what they liked with ifc. He was much iuoliued fco make a motion that fresh tenders be called for. Councillor Buckley would like to be informed who was to pay for tho plans and specifications lying on fche table before them. Were thoy to pay for them, or would the Provincial Government do so? The Matob said Councillor Buckley knew as much about the matter as he did» Councillor Buckley said the matter was nthor a serious one. The plans wore supplied to them by the Provincial Government, and if they used them they would be told, " Oh, you have used thorn, and you will have to pay for fchem." He desired fco know whether any arrangement had been entered into in reterence to them— whether they had been given to the Council gratuitously or not. The Mayob said that was a question which would have to be discussed by the publio. He would like to oxplain the position the Council was in, supposing Councillor Moss's views to be correct. He had stated that ho (tho Mayor) had no authority to give a pledgo with reference to tho £1000 ; but what was their real position ? Tho acb stated most distinctly that tho Council should pay the Provincial Government the £1000. Beforo that stipulation was agreed to a meeting of the members of tho Council was callod, to which overy member was invited, and it was decided in his office by those members present that fche following report should be forwarded to the House of Kepresentatives [The Mayor read the report, which bore out all his subsequent action.] In fche face of fchafc ho would ask Councillor Moss by what; other means they could have induced the Government fco hand over fche £1000 than by the carrying out of an understanding fco which both sides had pledged themselves. Councillor Moss ; I quite agree with your Worship that the sheds should be erected, but I decline to be dictated to by the Provincial Government. I think the latter part of the lefcfor pledges fco certain cross action which no officer of the City Council had powor to guarantee should bo undertaken or performed. Tho sheds should bo erected, there is no doubfc about that : bub I altogether object fco having the arrangement of fche Provincial Government forced upon us. Councillor Ketjll: What improvements would you suggest;, Councillor Moss ? The committee have spent a great amount of time in fche consideration of their report. In framing fchoir report fchey have taken the evidence of captains of vessels and of a number of other persons qualified to express opinions on theso matters, and fchey believe they have arrived at a result that will confer tho most convenience upon that portion of fche public who use fche wharf, and until some raembor of fche Council came forward with some other plan there was no alternative course open to tho Council ; therefore the best thing thoy could do would be to adopt the suggestions of the committee. Councillor Buckley: I move that the sheds bo erected in terms of the plans and specifications now before the Council. Councillor Moss : Then I shall move as an amendment that it is advisable to alter the position of one or two *>f the Bhode. It has been pointed out to mo that tho erection of tho slieds on the outer T will block up the whole of the most useful portion of the wharf. If two steamers wero lying alongside ifc would be impossible for thee! to discharge their cargoes ; besides, where aro tho wooi presses to be put. • Councillor Mills : Ifc is intendod to pross the wool inside tho sheds. Councillor Buckley moved " That tenders be afc once called for tho erection of four sheds on the Queen's Wharf in accordance with the plans and specifications afc present before fche Council." He thought thoy were paying a poor compliment fco fche committee and to his Worship the Mayor, who had taken a great deal of pains to discover what was the most desirable course to adopt. Speaking for himself, he knew he was not qualified to suggest where the sheds should bo erected, aud for this reason it was himself who had suggested that the members of the committee should be mercantile gentlemen, because they would bo most likely to understand what were the requirements of the mercantile community. Tho committee appointed wore gentlemen of experience, and knew as well as anybody what was necessary to be done. They had done

what wis bust for the requirements of the uily, and the Council would be paying them a very poor compliment if they did not »dopfc their suggestions. The only part of the de* liberations with which he did not agree was, that he would have preferred to see fresh tenders called for erecting the sheds. A long time had elapsod since the tenders already in were called for; circumstances have materially altered ; and there were other reasons why it would have boon desirable to write fresh tenders. Ho thought no little oredit was duo to his Worship the Mayor for the part he had taken in the whole of these matters. Tho aofc conferred upon him a great deal of power, which, ho thought, rather than having been exceeded, had been employed with a great deal of wisdom. Councillor BLbull explained, for tho satisfaction of Councillor Moss, that the committea had considered Mr Tonks's opinions in all matters connected with the wharf enquiry. [Councillor Krull explained Mr . Tonka's suggestions from a map on the Council table.] Councillor Mos3 was glad to hear it, because ho thought a person who had leased the wharf for throe years should ktjffw something about it. * _ _^ if' Councillor Buckley. would^^oW^i^l^bc^ have some information about tbe plans. The Mayob said if they used tho plans, of course they must expeot to have to pay for them. Councillor Buckley merely wished to know how and when they would have to pay for them, because the carrying out of his resolution would depend very much upon that. Councillor Mints moved as an amendment " Tbit the last tender sent in to the Provincial Government be .accepted." He thought it most unfair, unless there wore some strong reasons for such a course, to open twelve or thirteen tenders and then throw the tenderers over. If the Council could save money by doing so he would have no objection to such a course being pursued, but unless they could do so it would be a wrong thing to do to induce contractors to send in tender* and then throw them overboard. When it was understood that they were going to use the old plans and specifications, they should also aocept the same tenders. If tbey wero not legally, they were morally bound to recogniso these tenders. The Provincial Government had given a pledge that whether the work was carried out by them or not the tenders should be respected. Councillor Buckley could answer Councillor Miller's objections on his own arguments. That gentleman told them they wero morally bound to aocept one of the tenders. He (Councillor Buckley) knew that these tenders were not opened by the Council. They had never been consulted about whether the tenders should be opened or not. Circumstances had greatly altered since the tenders were sent in, and' as representatives of the ratepayers, sent to the Council by them to 1 look after their interests, he thought the I morality would be against them if they did not look after the matter; There was no I question of morality in the matter'at all. The ! Council had a perfect right to get the work i done at the smallest price, and in the best possible manner. If the Council was Against * him he could not help- it, but he thought they had no right to respect the interests of a contractor in preference to those of the people. He did not see any reason why they should bo bound down to accept tenders whioh bad . been sent in by contractors at the request of the Provincial Government. They all knew from experience that people go in to make aa much as they possibly could out of any Government, and had not much scruple iv putting it on heavily for Government work. The Council was neither in the position of a Government or a private individual. They, as a Corporation, had a perfect right, now that circumstances were much altered, to alter the circumstances to meet the views of the Provincial Government only so far as they had pledged themselves to do so. Why should they be compelled to accept the lowest tender when the Provincial Government themselves distinctly stipulate that they are not bound to accept the lowest or *any tender ? Why should the Council be bound to carry out an arrangement by which the Provincial Government were not bound themselves ? Tho Mayob, at this stage, road a letter from Captain Halliday, stating that it would be nocesaary to put into repair that portion of tho wharf which was damaged by the s.s. Otago, before any shed was erected over tho damaged part. • Ifc was agreed that this work should be included in Councillor Buckley's motion, which was then put and carried. The Mayok thought it important that they should now discuss the question as to whether tho wharf and the bonded store should be let together. As the publio mind had been agitated upon tho subjeot, it was only right that they should set the matter afc rest without delay. Councillor Moss said he had canvassed opinions outside, and tho prevailing expressions suggested that the wharf and the bonded store should bo let together. He had given the subject; some consideration himself long before ifc was thought the buildings would come into tho hands of the Council. He thought the recommendations of the committee in this direction the best; that could havo been arrived afc. Councillor Kbuxl had much pleasure in supporting Councillor Moss's opinions, because they would not only get a higher rent; by lotting the two together, but ifc would be a much moro convenient arrangement.. It might be hard on a few people who intended to tonder for one or other of the two, but; would be the more advantageous to the Council pecuniarily and in the working of the two in harmony. Moreover, it was -the intention of the Provincial Government to have lefc them together had the property remained in their possession. Councillor Ramie thought, on the contrary, that ifc would be more advantageous fco the Corporation to lefc the properties separately. It would be much more satisfactory to put them up separately, and if any party got hold of the two by bidding lefc him do so. What had they to do with the harmony in the working of the two ; that; was a matter for the lessees themselves. What they wanted waß to get; the most; they could for the properties. Councillor Minis thought it decidedly preferable that the two properties should be leased togethor. Ifc might be thought; by soma peoplo that they wore trying to make a few hundred pounds extra by ousting Mr Tonka, but it was no such idoa that prompted him in suggesting tho adoption of tho course he advocated. Councillor Moss said Mr Tonka himself was of opinion that the two should be lefc in one. The Mayob thought if Councillor Ramie were to give the matter further consideration he would alter his views upon the subject;. Councillor Ramie did nofc think ifc likely that he would alter the opinion-be had already formed, namely, that tbe prop^ie^would bring a higher price if put up BeparafceTjWßlL^ Counjillor Milieu, in support .of the re^ittl marks made by Counoillor Rai 1 1 ieT* sai3 ' iSS?-, putting up of the properties singly would induce more competition, as was always the caso in similar undertakings of the kind. Councillor Buckley would liko to know how they were to obtain fche information 38 fco whioh would be fche best; course to adopt — whether ifc would be hotter to put them up aeaaratoly or together. He quite agreed with Councillor Ramie that they should get as much as possible for the lease of the properties, and he thought the best course to adopt would be to follow that recom« mended by the committee, namely, that the two should be put up together ; besides, the Provincial Government had determined, had fche properties remained in their possession, to adopt a similar course. Still, ho would prefer to hear some more argument before he voted for one course or the other. The Mayob said he had had some experience in these matters, and he could safely say that fche working together of the bonded store and the wharf would enable the lessee to do so at a saving of two men's labor. That

■would amount to a saving of about £300 a-jenr. Thut was a matter that they should take- into consideration in di^om-sing the matter. He was perfectly satisfied that; one per- on having possession oi' the two properties could do a Great deal towards utilising tho labor, and consequently the public would be better served. Obey liad the opinion of Mr Tonks on the matter, in addition to his own, as to what would be tho best to be done, and ho thought they could not do better than act upon it. The motion was then put and carried, the numbers being 4 against 2. The regulations were then read seriatim, and papsed without amendment. Councillor Moss moved an additional regulation, namely, that the wharfinger should provide a night watchman at his own expenee. This was agreed to. Councillor' Moss suggested that an advertisement calling for tenders for the auctioneering of the property should bo inserted, and it vras agreed that as on arrangement; had been made with Mr Wallace, that gentleman should be offered £5 for selling the property, and in thCH^enfc of his refusing to accept that price^he adv&'tisement to be inserted. Qq^i"j»^trSi:i.ET called the attention of CouiTeTl toTfufe fact that a number of persons were in tbe habit of stacking timber and shooting rubbish on the reclaimed land. It was agreed that the clerk should give notice for the discontinuance of the deposit of rubbish, and to persons owning timber to remove it. The Mayor read a letter from Mr Beck, asking the Council to insert a clause in the wharf conditions giving him permission to , continue the supply of water to vessels at tho wharf until the Council were in a position to supply it themselves. Councillor Moss said he objected to doing co. It could be in no way detrimental to the interests of the town. Councillor Kbum thought the Council were entitled to make some profit out of traffic, as well as Mr Beck, who was making between £700 and £800 a year, for what was in reality very little trouble and no expense. Councillor Moss : That's all very well, but suppose you discontinue the right to Mr Beck, how do you propose to supply the shipping with water. Councillor Kbtoti: But the water costs him nothing, and why should he pocket £700 or £800 a-year for merely turning a tap, while fche city gets nothing out of ifc afc all. Councillor Buckley did not consider they had any right to deprive Mr Beck of any privilege to which he was entitled. Tfc was *■ nothing more than proper that they should respect, the rights of Mr Beck until they were in a position to supply the water themselves. The clerk was instructed to write* to Mr Beck and ask him whafc were the terms of his agreement with the Provincial Government with regard to the use of the wharf for the laying of his pipes. The conditions to be observed by the lessee of the wharf were then referred to the solicitor of the Council. *. THE FOBESTFIt'S FETE. A letter was read from tho Foresters, asking permission to make a charge for admission to the Cricket Ground.— Granted. The Council then adjourned till Wednesday.